On the Contrary

The Republicans are grabbing at straws.  Of course the pundits keep asking them amazingly stupid questions which fail to recognize what is going on here.  What I think we are witnessing is not some election where the voters are mad at the Republicans and just want somebody else.  What we are witnessing is a rejection of Reaganism and the last 30 years of conservative philosophy.  It just hasn’t worked and we are in a mess.  The mess is not because the Republicans were not true to their principals, but because they were true to them and most people are getting it.

These pundits keep focusing on basically flawed questions like why couldn’t the McCain campaign focus on one message that would resonate with the voters.  The answer is clear:  They don’t have one.  The one that does resonate is the one that rejects their message.  It is not about some crystallization of a conservative approach to our future.  They have failed.  Conservatism has run its course.  That is why the Republicans have focused on trying to defame Barack’s character as an American hating, socialist, who has ties to terrorists.  It’s a lie, but it is all they have.  The voters have already rejected their position on issues so what else could you run on except character and character smears?

I watched Duncan Hunter, a very conservative Republican from California explain to some media person that if only John McCain had focused on international threats he would be leading now.  Then we got the litany of how we are winning in Iraq to which the media person asked how we are winning if we are still stuck there and spending $10 billion a month.  That is how out of touch these people are.  Most Americans just want out so we can focus on the great problems we are facing at home and the Republican approach is we will bring victory, whatever that means.  Its good flag waving fodder for their base, but for those who think deeply about our future, we have done what we can do and it is time to disengage.  In the language of cost benefit ratios, we can gain a greater benefit in our national security by investing our money and people elsewhere.  Slogans are not working any more and thoughtful nuanced policy is not Republican forte.

On NPR’s Talk of the Nation, I listened as Neil Conan’s guest made the argument that you should elect John McCain in order to provide a balanced government and that the American people are afraid of one party being in control.  Once again both Neil and his guest totally misunderstood this election.  It is not just that the voters are mad at the Republicans, and so are looking for a balance.  It is that they have decided they want to jettison the Republican orthodoxy and they want to try something new.  They don’t want baby steps that long fights and compromises will bring, where Republicans will fight reform every step of the way.  They want to step off smartly in a new direction.  They are going to deliver the government to the Democrats and give them a chance and the Democrats will have two years to show what they can do.  For those who are afraid of single party control, note that the Democrats who might win election in these swing states are not what one would call left wing Democrats.  They are very practical politicians who are just not wedded to a conservative ideology.

But the Republicans are beginning to understand the wave of change that is bearing down on them and they are terrified.  Their arguments and their fear mongering is gaining no traction except among their pathetic base and they don’t know what to do.  Watch their spinners try to explain what is going on.  The body language and the fear in their eyes belies their smiles.  Their stretches of reality are getting longer and longer.  “This election would have been impossible to win anyway because of George Bush’s unfavorable ratings” as though this is just about George Bush.  It is not.  It is about conservatism and George was a good conservative.  McCain’s real problem is the basic thesis and message of the Obama campaign:  He had nothing to offer except more conservative ideology only maybe applied with more expertise and people are rejecting it.

Conservatives are going to tell you that this was about the mountains of money that Barack Obama had.  Some of that is true, but in the past Republicans have had tons of money, mostly from their lobbyists.  Barack’s average campaign contribution was $75 and it came from all over the country from people like me who are voting with their wallet.  Some will tell you that if the economy had not gone south when it did, McCain and the republicans would have won.  Once again that ignores the unfavorable ratings before the economy crashed.  Most people understood that the Republican party is about the status quo and protecting the wealthy.  The dramatic turn on Wall Street simply underscored the bankruptcy of their ideas.

So the desperation you see in the Republicans is not just about losing an election.  It is much more basic to them than that.  It is about losing power and control.  It is about having everything they believe in rejected.  They are terrified because without their conservative religion they are rudderless.  They will be the last to finally open their eyes and see that what they have wrought is just the manifestation of what they believe.  It is emotionally wrenching to find out your god is a false god.  Some will never let go.

No, I don’t think this election is just about being tired of George Bush or corrupt politicians of which the Republicans have had the majority of lately. Ted Stevens come to mind?  His arrogance is symptomatic of the Republican’s problems.  But that is business as usual in the world of politics.  Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. What this election is about is turning a page and moving away from conservative ideology that has held us back from taking any real steps toward changing the direction of this country.

But don’t be afraid.  Liberalism, as the Republicans define it, which is taking your money through taxes and then wasting it is not what is about to happen.  Note the Republicans didn’t bother to take your money, they just wasted it while running up your credit card so someone else would have to take it from your children later to pay the bill.  The new liberalism, which I call progressivism, will be one that sees government as part of the solution, and an effective and efficient partner in our way forward.  It will be one that respects market place solutions, but that also tries new things and is not afraid to do what works, regardless of ideology.  It will be a government that works for all the people, not just the rich with the hope that there will trickle down.  It will be a government that believes if we can empower and enrich our working classes, there will be trickle up.  So in the words of that 90’s commercial, “Try it Mikey, you’ll like it.”  Note to Democrats:  You will have two years to make some progress in the monumental mess the Republicans have left us.  Be thoughtful and don’t screw this chance up.